Court clears man who ran over armed assailant

35 year-old Nure Kamakam, from Libya had been driving in St. Paul’s Bay on the 11th October 2010. At one point he noticed a man, later identified as Said Bouslama, pointing a shotgun at one, Ahmed Muhammed Mustapha Alouzi.

Kamakam stopped his car and fruitlessly attempted to calm the situation down, his efforts instead resulting in the armed assailant turning the gun on him and telling him not to get involved or he would be shot too.

The quick-thinking Kamakam returned to his car, performed a U-turn, and ran Bouslama over, saving his own life and that of Alouzi.

Kamakam was subsequently arrested and charged with causing grievous injury and dangerous driving.

Police inspector Theresa Sciberras told the court that the police had received a call informing them that an armed man was pointing a firearm at another man’s head, but that when officers arrived at the scene, the gunman had been incapacitated by being run over. An ambulance was called and transported him to hospital.

Bouslama had told police that he had just alighted from his vehicle to buy groceries from Giormina Bakery, nearby. At that point he received a phonecall from a person who owed him €70, asking him where he was. Shortly after explaining his location, he said he was approached by Alouzi and whilst he was speaking to him a car came from behind and ran him over, injuring him.

Police investigating the crime scene had reported finding the butt of the shotgun nearby, also noting that the windscreen of Kamkam’s car was smashed and the presence of copious amounts of blood on the ground.

Divers later recovered a shotgun barrel from the sea nearby, which forensic tests confirmed to be a match with the buttstock recovered from the crime scene.
Alouizi had testified, recalling his terror when Bouslama had attacked him and pointed a sawn-off shotgun at his head, followed by his relief when Kamakam drove past and, seeing what was happening, turned his car around to ram the armed man with his vehicle.

Kamakam testified that he had not driven over the man with the intention of injuring him, but only to stop him from endangering the lives of others. Bouslama appeared to be under the influence of alcohol at the time, he claimed.

In a judgment that will almost certainly be studied by future law students, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera  held that the accused had performed a calculated maneuver to prevent a more serious incident taking place. “There was no doubt that the real danger in this case was caused by the alleged victim and not by the accused, who was defending himself from serious aggression.”
Lawyer Joseph Giglio assisted Kamakam.